Chapter 5

Lu Qi was also startled. He hurriedly ran into the Huichuntang, but the wasps didn’t care about his status.

When he ran into the Huichuntang, he found that Xu Chunliang was still standing at the door, calmly looking at the chaotic scene in front of him and softly saying, "I told you to keep the money for medicine. Brother Lu, call an ambulance for them."

An elderly voice sounded, "There’s no need to go through so much trouble. In Dongzhou, when it comes to treating bee stings, we Huichuntang are second to none."

Xu Changshan slowly walked to the door. In his view, this group of people was getting what they deserved, but he didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

The beehive under the eaves had been there for several years, and there had been occasional incidents of wasps stinging people, but it was the first time they had launched a full-scale attack like today.

The old man had a benevolent heart. Although these moving workers had just extorted money from him, he couldn’t just let them die. He fetched the special incense from Huichuntang, lit it, and gave it to Xu Chunliang and Lu Qi, asking them to help disperse the wasps.

Lu Qi, emboldened, followed the grandfather and grandson to drive away the swarm. Before they could get close, the wasps scattered and soon disappeared completely.

Lu Qi thought it was the incense that did the trick, but Xu Changshan noticed that the wasps' behavior was somewhat unusual. There were many passersby, but the wasps only attacked the six people from the moving company, not affecting others. This was strange. Could it really be karma?

The moving workers were already stung to look like pig heads, with the foreman being the worst, receiving about 50% of the wasps' attacks. The other five shared the remaining 50%.

The foreman's head was as big as a pig's, his eyes swollen to slits, unable to see.

Xu Changshan asked Xu Chunliang and Lu Qi to help bring the six injured people into the Huichuntang. The foreman's mouth was also swollen, and he mumbled, "I want to go to the hospital, I want to go to the hospital." He was worried about retaliation from Huichuntang.

Xu Chunliang said, "You can go if you want, Grandpa, treat the others first."

Many onlookers followed inside, chattering. Many were laughing at the foreman. Who in this area didn’t know about Grandpa Xu’s medical skills? The foreman must have been stung in the head by the wasps to seek help elsewhere.

The first step in treating bee stings is to squeeze the wound to remove the stinger and venom, reducing damage to the tissue.

Xu Changshan put on his reading glasses, took out a special pair of tweezers, and prepared to start the treatment.

Xu Chunliang said, "Grandpa, don’t rush, they haven’t paid yet."

The stung workers, itchy and in pain, only wanted to relieve their suffering and quickly said, "We’ll pay, we’ll pay."

"We’ll pay whatever it costs, we won’t default."

Xu Chunliang patted the foreman’s shoulder, "Where’s the money?"

The foreman, being a sensible person, quickly took out the money he had extorted from the old man, returning the 1,000 yuan for nutrition fees.

Xu Chunliang insisted, "It’s a bit less."

The foreman had to return the moving fee as well. In the end, he got nothing and ended up with a head full of lumps.

Xu Changshan had already started the treatment, using small tweezers to remove the stingers and squeeze out the venom.

Xu Chunliang watched from the side. The old man was already advanced in age, and his hands were trembling, with poor eyesight, so it took a lot of time. Xu Chunliang didn’t take the initiative to help.

This kind of bee venom treatment was very simple. In the past, he would use his palm to absorb the stinger and venom, which was much more efficient than his grandfather. However, now he had almost lost his inner strength and couldn’t use the absorption technique.

During this time, Xu Chunliang had read many of Huichuntang’s books, learning some family-secret formulas. In his view, these formulas were very ordinary, but in the current era of declining traditional Chinese medicine, they were invaluable. Otherwise, Huichuntang wouldn’t have such a good reputation, and his grandfather wouldn’t have been recognized as a cultural heritage inheritor.

Xu Changshan spent two hours removing the stingers from the injured. Xu Chunliang, following his instructions, repeatedly washed the wounds with saline and hydrogen peroxide.

After the initial treatment, he applied Huichuntang’s exclusive snake medicine powder, which mainly contained seven-leaf-one-flower, toad skin, centipedes, and groundcover, highly effective for snake and insect bites.

After applying the powder, the effects were immediate. The stung areas stopped itching, and the less severe cases could move freely. The foreman, who was the most severely stung, started to de-swell, and although he still looked like a pig, his eyes could see again.

Lu Qi didn’t idle. He called 119 to ask the fire department to remove the large beehive, which was a potential hazard.

After treating the six patients, Grandpa Xu didn’t ask for more money and let the moving workers go home to rest. Although they felt guilty and wanted to help finish moving the remaining items, the old man declined.

Lu Qi helped contact another moving company and, with Xu Chunliang, moved the remaining items to the new location. After everything was done, Lu Qi mentioned buying medicine. The old man gave him the ointment and refused to take any money. Lu Qi secretly left 300 yuan and informed Xu Chunliang via message.

After the statue was returned to its place and incense was offered to the ancestors, Xu Changshan sat in a recliner, staring at the Huichuntang sign, lost in thought.

Xu Chunliang poured him a cup of tea, "Grandpa, where do you want to hang the sign?"

"Not in a hurry." The old man sipped his tea, thinking that he was already old, and it was uncertain how long the Huichuntang could stay open. His grandson now had a job, but he showed no interest in learning medicine. After the previous incident, he didn’t dare to force him. Fortunately, the boy had become much more cheerful, indicating that he had moved on from the college entrance exam failure.

Xu Chunliang’s phone rang. It was a call from the personnel department of Changxing Hospital, notifying him to report to the hospital next Monday.

Xu Chunliang hung up and informed his grandfather of the good news. The old man felt relieved, knowing that his grandson had a stable job.

The decision to study medicine could be made later. According to Gao Xin, there was a hierarchy in the hospital: clinical doctors looked down on medical technicians, who in turn looked down on administrative staff, who looked down on logistics. Once the boy started working and saw the differences and felt the inequality, he might realize the importance of medicine and become more motivated.

Recently, Xu Changshan had been summarizing his lifetime of medical experience. At seventy, it was time to think about the future. If the boy insisted on not studying medicine, he couldn’t let the family’s secret formulas be lost. He decided to write them down while he was still clear-headed, to pass them on to his grandson.

Xu Changshan had a trick up his sleeve. He claimed his eyesight was poor and asked his grandson to re-copy the drafts in small, neat handwriting. Although Xu Chunliang wasn’t a top student, he had practiced calligraphy under his guidance since childhood and had a beautiful handwriting.

Xu Changshan wanted to influence his grandson subtly. Xu Chunliang was very cooperative, always showing the completed copies to his grandfather for review.

Xu Changshan originally intended to point out mistakes and have his grandson copy them multiple times, but after reviewing the entire document, he found no errors and noticed that his grandson’s calligraphy had improved significantly, even surpassing his own.

Xu Changshan was pleased. Although his grandson wasn’t good at exams, it didn’t mean he was incapable in other areas. Gao Xin was right; it was time to let him face the world on his own.

Xu Chunliang understood his grandfather’s intentions clearly. The family’s secret formulas, which his grandfather treasured, were insignificant to him. He had already read all the medical books and pharmacological texts.

Recently, he had rarely gone out, focusing on cultivating the "Tongtian Baojian" and reading the family’s books.

Xu Changshan had a vast collection of medical books. Xu Chunliang had read through them and found that traditional Chinese medicine had not progressed much over the years. The "Huangdi Neijing," "Nanjing," "Shanghan Zabing Lun," and "Shennong Bencao Jing" were still considered the four major classics.

The "Maijing" and "Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing" had survived, but were incomplete. The "Guiyi Fang" and "Mo Tianwen" were unrecognizable, and the "Dujing," "Chanbian," and "Qianchongbian" had been lost.

The cultivation of the "Tongtian Baojian" was slow. He had been in this world for over a month but still couldn’t gather qi at will. Fortunately, there were few experts in this world, and no enemies had come to challenge him, so he didn’t feel an immediate threat to his survival.

The slow progress of his inner strength was likely due to changes in his meridians or his current weak constitution. Xu Chunliang decided to start with basic physical training. Although martial arts had declined, modern training equipment and methods were much more advanced and scientific.

Xu Chunliang combined ancient and modern methods to design an effective physical training program.

With scientific methods and hard work, his weak body became visibly stronger.

Xu Changshan noticed the change and thought it was due to the lack of exam pressure, not thinking of other reasons.

Before reporting to the hospital, some preparations were needed. His grandfather gave him 10,000 yuan, which came from his father in North America. Xu Jiaxuan transferred 120,000 yuan annually as Xu Chunliang’s living expenses.

Following the principle of raising daughters with wealth and sons with frugality, Xu Changshan had been strict with money in the past. Now that his grandson had a job, his expenses would naturally increase. The 10,000 yuan was for buying clothes and a new phone.

He also suggested that Xu Chunliang learn to drive, as it was essential for young people nowadays.

The day before reporting, Xu Chunliang went to a nearby commercial square to buy clothes and a phone.

The store was the same one where the snake incident happened. As Xu Chunliang was about to pay for the phone, a well-dressed woman approached, "Give him the factory price." It was the store manager, Yu Li.

Although Yu Li had fainted twice during the incident, she retained some memory. She recognized Xu Chunliang as the young man who helped them. When he entered the store, she felt a sense of familiarity and confirmed it with her colleagues.

Xu Chunliang smiled, "Thank you!"

Yu Li smiled back, "I should thank you. I remember you helped us that day."

"It was a small matter, not worth mentioning."

Yu Li didn’t think it was a small matter. She was still scared thinking about that day. She had thanked the two police officers and inquired about Xu Chunliang, but the police didn’t reveal his information, only acknowledging that a kind-hearted person had helped and left quietly.

Yu Li, being outgoing, gave Xu Chunliang the best discount, a phone case, and a screen protector.

While processing the paperwork, she chatted with Xu Chunliang. Upon learning he was starting at Changxing Hospital, she opened up. Changxing Hospital was one of her clients, and she had many acquaintances there, including her sister Yu Mo, a gynecologist.

Yu Li, being warm-hearted, offered to introduce her sister to him, thinking it would be helpful for a young man starting his career.

Xu Chunliang, being talkative, chatted with Yu Li and they hit it off. They exchanged contact information, and Yu Li proposed to organize a dinner for the three saviors in a few days.